Air Quality Improving in Many U.S. Cities

Even Los Angeles showed lowest smog levels in more than a decade, data found.

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WEDNESDAY,
April 25, 2012 (HealthDay News) — Air quality in
America's most polluted cities has improved significantly over the past decade,
according to a new report from the American Lung Association.

Even Los Angeles, famous
for its morning smog,
is the cleanest it's been in 13 years, the association noted. Santa Fe, N.M.
leads the pack, having been ranked as the cleanest city in the nation.

Despite progress in
reducing the level of smog and soot in the air, the "State of the
Air" report warned that unhealthy levels of air pollution still persist around
the country.

"'State of the Air'
shows that we're making real and steady progress in cutting dangerous pollution
from the air we breathe," Charles Connor, president and CEO of the
American Lung Association, said in an association news release. "We owe
this to the ongoing protection of the Clean Air Act. But despite these
improvements, America's air quality standards are woefully outdated, and
unhealthy levels of air pollution still exist across the nation, putting the health of millions of Americans at
stake."

In rating the air quality
in cities and counties around the country, the lung association takes into
account the color-coded Air Quality Index developed by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), which alerts the public about unhealthy air
conditions. The report, released Wednesday, also used data collected by the EPA
from 2008 to 2010 on ozone and particle pollution.

The report found drastic
improvements in 18 of the 25 cities most polluted by ozone. Nine out of the top
10 cities most polluted
by ozone were in California. Topping the list was Los Angeles, although it
showed the lowest smog levels since the report was first published back in
2000.

Particle pollution also
dropped significantly in 17 of the 25 most polluted cities, including Los
Angeles, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. This mix of microscopic bits of ash, soot,
diesel exhaust, chemicals, metals and aerosols can lead to early death, heart
attacks and strokes.

Four cities —
Pittsburgh, San Diego, Philadelphia and Visalia, Calif. — dropped to
their lowest levels of short-term particle pollution on record, the report
noted. Birmingham, Ala., Detroit and York, Pa., dropped off the list of the 25
most polluted cities entirely — a first for all three.

The lung association
cautioned that much work remains to be done to improve air quality in the
United States. Forty percent of Americans, or 127 million people, live in areas
where air pollution poses a threat to their health. These people are at greater
risk for wheezing and coughing, asthma attacks, heart attacks, and premature
death, the report noted.

Infants, children,
seniors and anyone with lung diseases, heart disease or diabetes are most
vulnerable to the harmful effects of air pollution. Those with low incomes or
jobs that require them to work outside are also at greater risk.

The report revealed that
38.5 percent of Americans live in counties that received an "F" for
air quality because of unhealthy levels of ozone air pollution, which can cause
chronic health problems. Meanwhile, almost 50 million people in the United
States live in counties with unhealthy surges in particle pollution levels.
Year-round particle pollution threatens another 6 million Americans.

The standards set under the
Clean Air Act are a driving force behind the improvement in air quality in the
United States, according to the lung association. The legislation aims to clean
up major sources of air pollution such as coal-fired power plants and diesel
engines to reduce the amount of ozone and particle pollution in the air. The
EPA estimated that cutting air pollution through this measure would prevent at
least 230,000 deaths and save $2 trillion annually by 2020.

The report warned, however,
that the positive trend in U.S. air quality will not continue if opponents of the
Clean Air Act gain the upper hand on Capitol Hill.

"We still need to
fulfill the promise of clean, healthy air for everyone, and that can only
become a reality through the full implementation of the Clean Air Act. The
American Lung Association strongly opposes any efforts to weaken, delay, or
undermine the protective standards the law provides," said Connor.
"The American Lung Association has been leading the fight for clean air
for decades, and we are as determined as ever to give every American the clean
air they deserve to breathe every day."

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